ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team (5-2-2, 0-0-1 CHA) skated to a 1-1 draw against Lindenwood (1-5-1, 0-0-1 CHA) in the College Hockey America opener for both teams at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday evening. The Tigers extended their unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1).

With the game tied in the final minute of regulation, Lindenwood took a too many players on the ice penalty. RIT won a faceoff in the Lady Lions zone and looked to take the lead, as Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) deflected a shot from Christa Vuglar (Crystal Lake, IL/Chicago Mission) past Lindenwood goaltender Nicole Hensley. Immediately the referees waved it off, saying the puck was tipped with a high stick. The play was reviewed and the call stood, keeping the game tied.

On the same power-play to start overtime, Darcy Henderson (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) found herself all alone at the side of the net with a sprawled Hensley out of position, but the RIT forward hit the post and somehow, the puck stayed out of the net.

Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) scored RIT's lone goal on a power-play in the first period, as she was named the game's third star. In goal, Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) was solid, making 26 saves to move to 4-2-1 this season. Binnington was named the game's second star.

Katie Nokelby scored Lindenwood's goal midway through the second period. In goal, Hensley was very strong, stopping 34-of-35 shots to be named the game's first star.

RIT out-shot Lindenwood, 35-27. The Tigers were 1-for-6 with the man-advantage, generating 14 shots on goal, while Lindenwood was 0-for-5. The Tigers had two goals called back, one in the first period, and one in overtime.

"Overall, I am not satisfied with our performance tonight, especially coming out as strong as we did in the first period," said RIT head coach Scott McDonald. "As the game went on, we played more as individuals, and were settling for shots from the outside. We can't afford to give a point away in league play."

The Tigers used the power-play to its advantage in the first period, scoring their lone goal, while firing 10 of 19 shots with the power-play to lead 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.

RIT thought they had taken a 1-0 lead on its first power-play, as a shot by Brown was stopped by Hensley, with the rebound laying in the crease with an open net, but Darcy Henderson (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) kicked the puck into the net, resulting in no goal.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Vuglar set up Brown for a one-time from the left circle that Hensley stopped, but the rebound kicked right to Paton in the slot and the junior forward rocketed a shot into the top right corner at the 8:12 mark to give RIT a 1-0 lead.

Brown just missed making it a 2-0 game moments later on RIT's second power-play, as she attempted a wrap around with Hensley seemingly out of position, but somehow, the Lindenwood goaltender got back across to make a big save.

Later on a power-play, Hensley went post to post to rob Henderson on the doorstep.

The Lady Lions had three good chances on a power-play late in the period, but Binnington and the RIT defense was there to keep the puck out of the net.

Lindenwood scored the lone goal in a sloppy second period. At the 10:55 mark, Nokelby fired a harmless looking shot from the left point that had eyes, beating a screened Binnington off the right post and in to knot the game at 1-1.

The Tigers had a handful of good chances late in the period, including a shot from the slot by Brown and a good chance by Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) in front, but were unable to take the lead.  

Defensively, RIT is tied for second nationally, allowing just 1.1 goals per game (10 goals allowed in nine games). RIT now has an incredible run of allowing two or less goals in 18 straight games dating back to last February.

RIT is 4-1-4 all-time against the Lady Lions and 3-0-2 against them all-time on home ice. The two teams will also meet during the 2014-15 season on Jan. 30-31 at Lindenwood.

"Our intensity has to be way better tomorrow," said McDonald. "We have to be more consistent."

The two teams wrap up the weekend series on Saturday from the Gene Polisseni Center at 3 p.m.